Steve Stefaniuk, director of food and beverage at the Fairmont Banff Springs, and Pam Ouellet, director of Willow Stream Spa, hold a dish of natural...more

Steve Stefaniuk, director of food and beverage at the Fairmont Banff Springs, and Pam Ouellet, director of Willow Stream Spa, hold a dish of natural grain fed Chipotle honey glazed chicken and fresh vegetables with the mountains in the background in Banff, Alberta on December 16, 2010.

Their cooking offers great ideas for home cooks looking to prepare meals that are high in nutrients, low in salt, fat and sugar, but still satisfying enough to keep the family happy.

That’s a challenge Anna Tanner knows well. The chef at the Hills Health Ranch near 100 Mile House, B.C., oversees the menus for this destination for people seeking wellness services ranging from weight loss to surgery recovery. “Our philosophy here is lots of variety,” she says. “You have to keep it interesting.”

That’s the first rule in creating food that’s good for you and tastes good, too. Tanner notes if you eat the same things all the time your palate will get bored. And a bored palate is one that will soon find itself noshing on junk food.

Before that happens, try these techniques for making food that’s as delicious as it is nutritious.

Fight the fat

Gram for gram, fat has more calories than anything else we put on our plates. Eaten in excess, it can contribute to a variety of health problems.

Unfortunately, fat is also what makes food taste so good. It emphasizes other flavours, creates an enjoyable texture or mouth feel, and may actually be a taste unto itself.

“Thirty-five per cent of flavour is fat,” says Jonathan Gushue, executive chef at Langdon Hall in Cambridge, Ont. “So you really have to go back to the drawing board and reverse that.”

When he and his team developed the spa menu for Langdon Hall, they focused on “crisp, well-balanced flavours” and textures alongside small portions of richer foods like the popular three-ounce lamb burger.

There are many delicious ways to reduce fat in your diet. The easiest is to use low-fat versions of high-fat foods such as milk, yogurt and mayonnaise. You can also replace some or all of the fat in many baking recipes with fruit purees, or use buttermilk in salad dressing instead of mayonnaise.

Remember that some fats are better for you than others — unsaturated olive oil or omega-3-rich fish oils are generally a healthier choice than saturated animal fats.

Some of the sneakiest diet saboteurs are condiments. Mayonnaise, ketchup, barbecue sauce and dressings may enhance food, but they are loaded with calories, fat, sodium and sugar. Cut down on them or replace them entirely with lighter but no less flavourful alternatives such as vinegary coleslaw or tangy salsa.

Savour the flavour

People become so used to getting their flavours through fat, salt and sugar that they forget there’s a whole world of taste to explore.

“In Asia,” Gushue says, “they develop their flavours through sweet and sour.” Instead of salt, he likes to use the tart flavours of berries or citrus fruits such as pomelo, lemon or grapefruit — use enough acidity and you don’t need sodium, he notes.

He likes to infuse his food with herbaceous flavours, too, such as the peppery wild watercress that grows by the creek or the “green garden puree” of mixed herbs such as tarragon, fennel, cilantro and dill from the garden.

“Every single day, the guys will go down to the garden and forage what they can,” he says. “It’s almost like an herb vichyssoise. It’s like a sauce, but it has that nice herbaceous flavour.”

Spices and chilies also add a calorie-free zing to a plate.

“To me, it’s the punch of flavour,” says Tanner. “I’m always looking for something with a bit of tang to it. A bit of heat.”

Wake up your own palate by experimenting with new flavours. Sprinkle chopped fresh herbs such as dill, tarragon or mint in a salad or on top of pasta. Make a sauce by pureeing poached fresh herbs with a bit of broth, then drizzling it over poached fish or chicken. Add the zing of chilies to stir-fries or pasta. Squeeze citrus juices on broiled chicken, steamed fish or sauteed veggies. Add berries, pomegranate seeds or mandarin slices to salad.

Also try layering flavours by cooking starches in broth or the leftover cooking water from vegetables — it will make your food taste deeper and more complex without adding calories. The water from stewing dried apricots, for instance, makes a great base for a couscous or rice to go with curry. And tea makes a good, antioxidant-rich base for a smoothie.

Get fresh

Healthy food starts with the raw ingredients.

At the Fairmont Banff Springs, chef Martin Luthier scours the region for fresh local fare that goes into the spa’s bento box lunches and dishes such as the chipotle-honey-glazed chicken and vegetable salad rice roll.

“In the spa, one of the key ingredients for us is that guests aren’t looking for rich, heavy food. They’re looking for great, fresh raw ingredients that will sustain them so they have energy at the end,” says Steven Stefaniuk, the resort’s food and beverage director.

“We always look to source ingredients and form partnerships with local farmers as much as possible,” he adds. “It’s beautiful because they are so passionate about the process.”

The resort’s chefs work to draw out the natural flavour of the raw ingredients, “so if there is any enhancement to be done, it’s done mildly,” Stefaniuk says. “We don’t want to mask the flavour of the raw ingredients. You don’t need to modify it or manipulate it to get the flavour out of it, it’s so natural.”

Local produce is more likely to be picked at the peak of ripeness, so it will contain more nutrients and taste better, too. Local produce is available at farmer’s markets and some grocery stores. Consumers can also sign up for a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program, which will deliver fresh local produce to their door in season.

Even better, you can grow your own. Even if all you have is a windowsill, you can grow a pot of tomatoes and basil and have all the ingredients on hand for a simple and delicious salad of sliced tomatoes and chopped herbs. Then all you need is a drizzle of olive oil.

Taste the texture

Playing with texture is another way to keep healthy food interesting. Adding something crunchy or chewy to a dish adds satisfaction. It could be crisp vegetables, chopped nuts, toothsome grains, even a curried salt, which Gushue sprinkles on poached whitefish.

He also likes to make chips from root vegetables and serve a few alongside a main dish. They are a great way to preserve the nutrients of the vegetables and prepare them in a way even the fussiest of eaters will enjoy.

Tanner likes adding such grains as quinoa to vegetable salads for a nice chewy bite. “The grains all have their unique textures and it’s good to change things up,” she says.

Keep the texture of your meals varied, and you’ll find yourself satisfied with much less food than you might imagine.

Ultimately, eating well is all about combining what’s nutritious with what’s delicious. It’s about moderation, enjoyment without gluttony. It’s about having appropriate amounts of fibre, fat and complex carbohydrates.

“Food is about balance,” Gushue says. “You can eat it all, but there’s nothing that’s good for you that you can eat all the time.”

And that means trying new things, which Tanner knows can be intimidating.

“Half the fun is trial and error,” she says. “Try to experiment. Try it and see if you like it, and see if your family likes it.”

Most importantly, eating well shouldn’t be a chore.

“We really want to make the eating enjoyable and fun,” Ouellet says, “and keep the wellness in mind as well.”

One guideline to keep in mind is the 80-20 rule. Many dietitians and health experts recommend you strive to eat healthily 80 per cent of the time and the other 20 per cent of the time, eat for pure enjoyment. You won’t feel deprived, but you will most likely find yourself eating better.